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Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India may soon summon ICICI Bank Ltd’s on-leave chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar and her husband with regard to a probe into alleged regulatory lapses with regard to his business dealings, officials today said.

Besides, some other top officials of the bank, as also from Videocon, which allegedly benefitted due to its association with Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar, are also likely to be called for their personal hearings regarding charges against them that may lead to the bank and its embattled chief being slapped with several crores of rupees in fines and other penal actions, including ban from markets and directorships.

According to top officials, the multi-agency probe into ICICI Bank and business dealings of the Kochhar family will also be discussed by SEBI’s board next week as it has been felt that coordinated efforts are required to be taken by the market regulator, RBI and the government in this case due to its systemic importance.

SEBI had earlier issued show cause notices to ICICI Bank, Kochhar and others after its preliminary examination favoured initiating adjudication proceedings against them for alleged violation of listing disclosure norms regarding 'conflict of interest' in business dealings of her husband with Videocon Group.

Kochhar is believed to have maintained that she had no information about her husband's business dealings, while the bank has also given similar replies.

However, the regulator is of the view that Kochhar or the bank cannot feign ignorance in this matter as they have been regularly listing the name of her husband Deepak Kochhar as a 'related party' in the regulatory filings of the company, including in the latest annual filing submitted to the U.S. markets regulator SEC, which is incidentally also probing the case, officials said.

The bank has maintained the same stance in its submissions to the SEC as well, officials added.

While the U.S. regulator may eventually agree to settle the matter on payment of some settlement fees, officials said it is unlikely to be the case here in India even though the bank has indicated such a willingness to both the regulators.

The bank is being probed for a number of serious allegations, including about disclosure lapses regarding business dealings of the chief executive officer's husband and brother-in-law that are suspected to be directly or indirectly linked to the bank or its big borrowers, officials said.

The regulator may soon issue summons for personal hearings of Kochhars and others over the next few weeks, they said.

ICICI Bank may face a penalty of up to Rs 25 crore under the relevant SEBI regulations for such lapses, while the fine for Kochhar may go up to Rs 10 crore, besides other penal actions, a senior official said.

On its part, ICICI Bank's board has also constituted an “independent enquiry” and Kochhar has gone on leave till completion of this enquiry.

While Kochhar remains MD and CEO, the group's life insurance business head Sandeep Bakshi has been appointed as a whole time director and chief operating officer to handle day-to-day operations of the bank. Bakshi reports to Kochhar officially.

The bank has maintained that its board has full faith in Kochhar.

As per SEBI's preliminary probe, Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar has had many business dealings with Videocon Group over the last several years.

The cases under scanner include the significant loan exposure of the bank to Videocon way back in 2012 and the alleged involvement of Kochhar's family members in the restructuring of that loan. Kochhar and her family members are facing allegations of quid pro quo and conflict of interest with respect to a loan extended to certain entities.